March 22, 1906] 



NA TURE 



D U J 



mena of secondary radiation from light atoms may be ex- 

 tended to explain these results, if the independence of 

 motion of the electrons is conceived to disappear with an 

 increase in the number of electrons in the atom. — Records 

 of the difference of potential between railway lines when a 

 train passes and at other times, and a suggested method 

 for the observation of earth currents and magnetic vari- 

 ations : C. W. S. Crawley and F. B. O. Hawes. The 

 experiments described in the paper were made on the 

 London and South-Western main line, between Walton 

 and Weybridge stations. To each rail of the up line a wire 

 was permanently attached, and the other ends of the wires 

 were connected to the terminals of a reflecting galvano- 

 meter. The deflections of the galvanometer were recorded 

 on a moving sheet of paper, and curves obtained showing 

 the variation in the current through the galvanometer. 

 The curves showed a concordance in the results from 

 successive trains. The normal current through the galvano- 

 meter began to be disturbed about one minute before the 

 passage of a train, and the disturbance lasted about two 

 minutes. 



Royal Microscopical Society, February 21. — Dr. Dukin- 

 field H. Scott, F.R.S., president, in the chair. — A method of 

 producing stereo-photomicrographs : W. P. Dollman. A 

 number of good stereoscopic prints were exhibited in the 

 room in illustration of the paper. — A simple method of 

 taking stereo-photomicrographs and of mounting the prints 

 without cutting : Mr. Taverner. Though this paper was 

 upon the same subject as the previous one, the methods of 

 the authors were different, and Mr. Dollman limits his 

 operations to very low powers, giving amplifications of 9 

 to 20 diameters only. He uses a stop in front of the 

 objective, and exposes first one side of the lens and then 

 the other as he takes his two stereoscopic pictures. Mr. 

 Taverner uses higher powers, and a peculiar stop at the 

 back of the objective. The authors adopt a similar arrange- 

 ment for obviating the necessity of cutting the prints. — A 

 second list of rotifers of Natal : Hon. T. Kirkman. The 

 author described a remarkable new species, Copeus 

 triangulates. 



Anthropological Institute, February 27. — Prof. W. 

 Gowland, president, in the chair. — Ancestor worship in 

 Japan : W. G. Aston. It was shown that the so-called 

 ancestor worship of the Japanese is in reality a cult of the 

 sun and other nature deities, but as the sun or sun-goddess, 

 by a genealogy which covers a period of about 2,000,000 

 years and contains many miraculous incidents, is feigned 

 to be the ancestor of the Mikados, the Japanese naturally 

 speak of this cult as ancestor worship. We should not 

 follow their example. The descent of the Japanese nobility 

 from the sun-goddess and other deities of the old Pantheon 

 is to be regarded in the same light. There is a worship 

 of true ancestors in Japan, but it is due to Chinese in- 

 fluence, and is of later origin. — Anthropological notes 

 from Lake Tanganyika : W. A. Cunnington. The author 

 dealt with the manners, customs, and arts, &c, of the 

 natives living by the lake. Among the slides exhibited was 

 a series showing the different stages of the manufacture of 

 a pot, the peculiar point being that the bottom of the pot 

 is put in last. Other slides showed examples of weapons, 

 dress, houses, and costumes of the natives. 



March 13. — Prof. W. Gowland in the chair. — A collec- 

 tion of Palaeolithic implements from the neighbourhood of 

 Southampton : W. Dale. The author divided the imple- 

 ments into the following groups : — flakes, plain and 

 trimmed; implements with the butt end purposely left 

 smooth, used for chopping ; oval- and almond-shaped 

 implements with a cutting edge all round ; pointed imple- 

 ments with both edges equal, and tapering gradually ; 

 pointed implements with one curved and one straight edge, 

 adapted for making long cutting strokes ; pointed imple- 

 ments in which one side has been left as flat as possible — 

 these occur very sparingly in the Hants gravels. — 

 Materials for a study of tatu in Borneo : R. Shelford and 

 Dr. C. Hose. The paper contained the observations made 

 by the writers amongst the Kayans, Kenyahs, Bakatans, 

 Kalabits, and Sea-Dayaks of Sarawak. All the inform- 

 ation on the subject by previous writers had been analysed 



NO. 1899, VOL. 73] 



and compared, special use being made of Dr. A. 

 Nieuwenhuis's books on Borneo. Kayan tatu, which is 

 still a flourishing art, was described in considerable detail, 

 not only with reference to the tatu designs employed, but 

 also to the elaborate ceremonial accompanying the practice. 

 The Kenyahs and Sea-Dayaks also appear to have 

 borrowed the practice of tatu very largely from the 

 Kayans ; but most of the Indonesian tribes have all had 

 at one time or another a distinctive tatu. It is most un- 

 fortunate that the practice is rapidly dying out amongst 

 these people. It was not found possible to classify the 

 tatued peoples of Borneo in three main divisions as had 

 been done by Dr. Nieuwenhuis for those of a less extended 



Linnean Society, March 1. — Prof. W. A. Herdman, F. R.S., 

 president, in the chair. — A new type of stem from the Coal- 

 measures : Dr. D. H. Scott. The stem is one of the many 

 interesting fossils obtained from the pit at Shore-Little- 

 borough, in Lancashire, opened up for scientific purposes 

 by the generosity of the owner, Mr. W. H. Sutcliffe. The 

 sections were cut by Mr. J. Lomax. The specimen was 

 derived from one of the roof-nodules, which generally re- 

 present a peculiar flora, distinct from that of the seam- 

 nodules immediately below. Specimens of the great 

 petioles of the same plant had been discovered a year or 

 two before the stem itself came to light. The fragment 

 was about 15 cm. long, and belonged to a stem of con- 

 siderable size, the diameter being about 12x65 cm - The 

 new stem is referred to the family Medulloseae, of which it 

 constitutes a unique type. It is placed in a new genus, 

 named Sutcliffia, in honour of Mr. Sutcliffe, of Shore- 

 Littleborough, and the specific name 5. insignis is proposed 

 for it. — Notes on some species of Nereis in the district of 

 the Thames estuary : Dr. H. C. Sorby. In the course of 

 yachting expeditions during successive summers for more 

 than twenty years, Dr. Sorby has observed some remark- 

 able facts connected with the Heteronereis form in two 

 species of Nereis. The rarity of the occurrences should 

 make the record of them acceptable. Notes are given in 

 the paper on five species of Nereis found in the Thames 

 district. 



Sociological Society, March 14. — Prof. E. Kay Lankester, 

 F.R.S., in the chair. — Notes on the sociological appeal to 

 biology for suggestion : Prof. J. A. Thomson. The 

 sociologist is beginning to recognise the usefulness of 

 analysing out the organic processes which contribute to 

 the result which we call social activity. The same is true 

 of the sociologist's appeal to biology. If the recognition 

 of biological factors operative in social activity is very 

 partial the result is sure to be fallacious. By recognising 

 the operation of biological factors in the life of a societary 

 group the sociologist brings what is distinctively social 

 into greater prominence. There is some danger of an 

 inaccurate " materialism " if we pretend that sociology is 

 merely a higher department of biology. The chief value 

 of the appeal to biology by sociological students is three- 

 fold : — (a) aiding in analysis ; (b) showing that various 

 modes of social activity have a biological aspect ; (c) sug- 

 gesting from biological experience the discovery of socio- 

 logical laws. 



Paris. 



Academy of Sciences. March 12. — M. H. Poincare in the 

 chair. — The propagation of a movement round a centre in 

 an elastic, homogeneous, and isotropic medium : J. 

 Boussinesq. — The effects of the absorption of tuberculin 

 by the digestive tube in healthy and tuberculous animals : 

 A. Calmette and M. Breton. The experiments described 

 show that tuberculin, when absorbed by the alimentary 

 canal, is toxic for non-tuberculous animals, the effect being 

 especially marked for young animals. The tuberculin is 

 no better tolerated when the dosage starts from a minimum 

 and is progressively increased. For tuberculous animals a 

 very much smaller dose of tuberculin is poisonous. — The 

 evolution of the Tertiary mammals : the importance of 

 migrations : Charles Deperet. — The seventh scientific 

 voyage of the Princess Alice : Prince Albert of Monaco. 

 General description of the work done in oceanography, 

 zoology, microbiology, and meteorology of the Sargasso 

 Sea, in mid-Atlantic. — Observations of the comet i9o6i> 



